URO TODAY: An experiment that combines a standard advanced prostate cancer drug treatment with a vaccine to assist the immune system has just begun in the US. READ MORE>

Looking to harness the body’s own immune system to target prostate cancer that has spread to the bones (metastatic) and is unresponsive to standard treatment, investigators have just launched a clinical trial combining vaccine and radiation drug therapy.

The goal is to see if disease progression will be further delayed by adding two different experimental injections to the standard treatment.

URO TODAY: Abiraterone acetate is a promising treatment for advanced prostate cancer patients and is being tested in a Phase III trial for men with progressive castration-resistant prostate cancer who have not had chemotherapy.

A Phase III trial for patients following prior chemotherapy has been completed and is awaiting analysis. READ MORE>

PROSTABLOG NZ: John has now moved to the stage of needing chemotherapy for his advanced prostate cancer, but the government-subsidised version in NZ has been surpassed by a more effective drug – at $5000 a dose. That’s way beyond Mary’s bank balance. READ MORE>

JULY 10: PROSTABLOG NZ: “It’s sad that medical professionals in NZ are so scared of possible side effects from a treatment like Ketoconazole, that they refuse to even acknowledge it, even if it has been proven to be effective overseas.”

These words were written today by Mary – a Kiwi whose partner has advanced prostate cancer – as she describes the frustration of being unable to persuade NZ doctors to move outside what seem to her to be inflexible approaches to treatment.

“I produced prostate cancer digests from people I know who have had large drops in PSA on Keto, but I was told I know only a few people and trials showing side effects have been done on thousands,” she says.

“When I said I would like to see the papers on this, I was told I was not a doctor…and to this I respond “no, but I am the partner of a man with advanced cancer.”

JULY 8: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: A second Phase I clinical trial has been announced for GTx-758 – an oral luteinizing hormone inhibitor – which is designed for first-line treatment of advanced prostate cancer. READ MORE>